Aston Villa v Stoke City: Sherwood aiming to hit the ground running

Aston Villa manager Tim Sherwood takes charge of his first game against Stoke City in the Premier League on Saturday.

Published

19 February 2015

Tim Sherwood will attempt to deliver the Midas touch when he takes charge of Premier League strugglers Aston Villa for the first time against Stoke City on Saturday.

Sherwood was appointed as Paul Lambert's successor last Saturday after the Scot left the club following a dismal run of five consecutive top-flight defeats.

The new boss watched from the stands and delivered a rousing half-time team talk, following a dour goalless opening 45 minutes, as Villa beat Leicester City 2-1 in the FA Cup fifth round a day after arriving at the club.

Sherwood, who on Thursday added Mark Robson and Seamus Brady to his backroom staff, spoke of the need for Villa to start "throwing a few punches" and make Villa Park a fortress as they attempt to climb out of the relegation zone.

The former Blackburn Rovers midfielder hit the ground running when he took over as Tottenham head coach, masterminding five victories and a draw from his first six games in charge of the London club.

Lambert paid the price for a dreadful spell of 10 Premier League matches without a victory, in which they scored only two goals, and Sherwood must stop the rot in order to arrest Villa's alarming slide.

Andreas Weimann scored the only goal of the game as Villa won at Stoke on the opening day of the season and another three points this weekend will ensure they climb out of the bottom three as fellow strugglers Hull City and QPR also face each other on Saturday.

Injury-hit Stoke head to Villa Park on the back of a 4-1 FA Cup hammering at Championship side Blackburn Rovers last weekend.

That shock defeat not only left Stoke red-faced, but it also left them without Geoff Cameron due to suspension after he was sent off at Ewood Park, while Marc Muniesa suffered a torn hamstring in the same game.

With captain Ryan Shawcross (back) also sidelined, Dionatan Teixeira could make his first league appearance of the season and Andy Wilkinson is into contention for a start after recently returning from a loan spell at Millwall.